Shoe-sewing machine.



No. 644,620. Patented Mar. 6, I900. J. W. MELUON.

SHOE SEWING MACHINE.

(Application filed May 21, 1898.)

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instrumentality, which is designated therein UNITED STATES PATENT QFFICE.

JAMES W. MELOON, OF BROCKTCN, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO THE UNITED SHOE MACHINERY COMPANY, OF PATERSON, NEW JERSEY.

SHOE-SEWING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 644,620, dated March 6, 1900.

! Application filed May 21,1898. Serial No. 681,320. (No model.)

To ctZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JAMES W. MELOON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Brockton, in the county of Plymouth and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Shoe-Sewing Machines; and I do herebydeclare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The present invention relates to shoe-sewing machines, and more particularly to chainstitch hook needle machines used to unite the upper and the outsole of a turn shoe or the welt and the lasted upper and insole of a welted shoe.

In an application filed by me of even date herewith, Serial No. 681, 319, I have described a chain-stitch hook-needle'sewing-machine in which the slack thread of the loops of thread forming the stitches is removed by drawing upon the loop of thread held by the needle in a direction which will pull said thread away from the closed end of the loop of the precedin g stitch or in the direction of the feed of the In said machine is shown a separate as a loop-shortener, to engage the loop of thread drawn out by the needle and exert the loop-shortening pull thereon. In the pres ent machine instead of having a separate instrumentality to engage the loop of thread drawn out by the needle to exert the loopshortening pull thereon I have arranged the needle-segment upon a movable slide which moves laterally across the front of the machine, so that after the needle has drawn up its loop of thread it will be moved laterally in the direction of the feed, so as to exert a pull on said loop in such a direction that the closed end of the loop of the preceding stitch will not be engaged and frictionally clamped against the work by the loop of thread held by the needle, whereby the slack in the loop of the preceding stitch will be removed, all as will be hereinafter specifically set forth.

The present invention consists of the devices and combination'of devices which will be hereinafter described and claimed.

The present invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in Which- Figure 1 shows a front elevation of the upper part of a hook-needle chain-stitch machine embodying the same. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the machine as illustrated in Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 isa diagrammatic view illustratingthe operation of the needle in setting a stitch;

Similar letters and numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views.

In the drawings, A represents the base plate of the head of the machine, which, as usual in machines of this character, is mounted upon a stand or column A, a portion only of which is shown.

Projecting upward from the base A are the standards a, which carry suitable bearings a,

in which is mounted the main shaft c carrying suitable cams 1, 2, and 3 to actuate the moving parts of the machineand which may be rotated by any suitable or convenient means. Along the front of the base-plate A is avertical stand or frame a and supported by the standards a and frame a are suitable arches a, which carry suitable bearings (L in which is mounted the shaft a, upon which are fulcrumed various moving elements of resent a typical chain-stitch hookneedle sewv ing-machine, and which parts have been merely illustrated in order to convey a clear idea of the construction, organization, and mode of operation of such a machine embodying the present'invention.

The looper is shown at C and is mounted to rotate in a bearing 0, projecting downward and backward from a guide a in the bracket B, the said bracket being projected from the front of the frame a The looper is rotated by means of a rack 0 which is reciprocated along the guide 0' by means of a link 0 connected to alever c, which is'fulcrumed at c upon the base-plate A of the machine and which has a cam-roll c engaging a cam-path (not shown) in the left-hand face of the cam 2 on the shaft (L The upper end' of the looper O is provided with a pinion (not shown) which meshes with the rack 0 whereby as said rack is reciprocated the looper will be caused to oscillate and throw the thread around the needle.

D represents a suitable channel-guide which is fixedly secured to the bracket-B, and E represents a back gage which is yieldingly pressed forward and locked at times by any usual or preferred form of mechanism common to such devices in the prior art.

F represent-s a feed-point which is secured in any suitable manner to an arm f, carried by one end of a rock-shaft f, mounted in a bearing f carried by a feed-slide f which slide is reciprocatcd in a guideway f in the front of the frame Upon the left-hand end of the rock-shaft f is a segmental gear f which engages a segmental gearf on the short arm of the lever f which carries a camrollf engaging a cam-path (not shown) in the side of the cam 3 on the shaft- (1 the arrangement being such that a rocking of the leverf will by means of the segmental gears f and f rock the shaft f and impart an upand-down movement to the feed-point F to engage and disengage the work. The lateral movement is imparted to the feed-slide by means of a double-arm lever f which is fulcrumed at f, the front arm of which is slotted (see Fig. 1) and engages astud on the feed-slide. The reararm of thelever f carries a cam-roll f, which engages a peripheral cam-path (not shown) in the cam 2. The arrangement is such that a rotation of the shaft (1 will by the cams 2 and 3 and thelevers f and f impart up-and-down and sidewise movements to the feed-point F, whereby said point will engage and impart a stepby-step sidewise feed movement to the work in the direction of the arrows shown in Figs. 1 and The take-up lever G has at its outer end a take-up g g, and said lever is fulcrumed at g on the shafto and is provided atits inner end with a cam-roll g which engages a campath (not shown) in the right-hand side of the cam 53, the arrangement being such that a rotation of the cam will impart an up-anddown movement to the take-up g g, as is usual in these machines.

H indicates a slack controller carried by double links it and h and yieldingly held in engagement with the thread i by means of a spring 7L2. The thread i leads from any suitable thread waxing device (not shown) through a tension device, (indicated diagrammatically at 1,) thence over the first take-up roll g and under the slack-controller 11, over the second take-up roll g, and thence through the looper C.

All the parts of the machine thus far described may be constructed and organized in a manner common to hook needle chainstitch machines and perform their several functions in a manner well-known to those skilled in the art, it being understood that the tension device has suitable mechanism to lock and release the thread, timed and arranged to cooperate with the component parts of the stitch-forming mechanism, all as will be described in a description of the operation of the machine which will be hereinafter set forth.

In the present invention as the needle is withdrawn from the work to draw up a loop of thread the thread is locked at the tension device I in order to prevent the drawing oil of thread from the source of supply, and the needle, still retaining the loop of thread in its hook, has imparted to it a sidewise movement in the direction of the feed of the work to exert a pull on the thread in the direction as illustrated in Fig. 3 of the drawings or away from the closed end of the loop of the preceding stitch, whereby (the thread being locked at its source of supply) the thread forming the preceding stitch will be drawn upon and the loop of such stitch shortened, and as the needle is moved laterally in the opposite direction and up to its extreme backward stroke it will exert a pull upon the loop thus shortened.

To secure the above-suggested resultin the machine of the drawings, the needle I) is mounted upon the usual needle-segment b, which is fulcrumed at b in a bracket b projecting forwardly from a slide b, the said slide being fitted in a suitable guideway 12 and upon its rear face is provided witharearwardlyprojecting arm- I), which passes through a slot 11 in the frame a and which carries a cam-roll b, which engages a campath (not shown) in the cam 1. Any suitable mechanism may be provided for oscillating the needle-segment and imparting thereto its movement in a forward direction to puncture the work and its movement in the rearward direction to draw up the loop of thread, the mechanism illustrated in the drawings comprising a segment-gear I), which is fixedly secured to the stud b of the needle-segment. The segment-gear b is in engagement with a pinion b carried by the stud I) on the side of the bracket 6 and which in turn meshes with a wide rack Z1 carried by a lever Z1 fulcrumed upon the shaft to and having a rearwardty-extending arm carrying a camroll N, which engages a cam-path (not shown) in the cam 1, the arrangement being such that a rotation of the shaft a will impart to the needle its work-puncturing and loop-drawing movements and also sidewise or lateral reciprocations, all as will be clear from an inspection of the drawings.

It will of course be understood that any suitable form of needle-guide 0 may be employed to strengthen the needle during its lateral stitch-setting movement.

In the operation of the machine the loop of the preceding stitch formed by the needle is shortened by a pull on the loop of thread held by the needle and while the needle is retracted with a loop of thread the pull of such thread, as before stated, being imparted in such a direction as to not bind or act on the loop of thread of the preceding stitch, which is the stitch being shortened-or, in other words, the pull exerted on the loop of thread held by the needle will be in the direction of the feed of the work. As illustrated in the accompanying drawings, the machine is shown as uniting the welt and upper to'the insole of a welted boot or shoe and the work being positioned, as shown in Fig. 1, with the channel-guide D engaging the channel and the shoe held against the back gage, as in the usual manner of operating welt-sewing machines. The rotation of the main shaft will by means of the cam and connecting mechanism, comprising the lever b rack Z7 pinion b and segment-gear b oscillate the needle-segment b and project the needle I) through the welt, the edge of the upper, and the between substance of the insole, the point of the needle emerging from the channel. While the needle is in its forward position, the looper C is actuated to throw the loop of thread around the needle and into the hook thereof. The needle is then retracted, drawing up the loop of thread. As the needle leaves the work the thread i is locked by the tension device and the slide 11 moved laterally toward the left, as shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings,thus exerting aloop-shortening pull on the loop of thread held by the needle and shortening the loop at the preceding stitch, and just before the needle reaches its extreme backward position the slide 19 is returned to the right and the needle completes its backward stroke.

completed its backward stroke it is again advanced toward the work, and during its advance movement the take-up or other slack- After the needle has has been shortened to less than the distance between two punctures in the work, to become straightened out and greatly facilitating the setting of the stitches. The needle is now advanced and enters the welt, as before, and emerges from the channel of the insole, and the looper is again actuated, as before described, to place another loop of thread in the needle and the needle retracted, drawing the second loop of thread through the loop which has been previously formed, it being understood that during the advancement of the needle the take-up or other slackcontroller is actuated to take up the slack thread given up by the needle.

Having described the construction and operation of. the illustrated embodiment of my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States- In a chain-stitch hook-needle sewing-machine, the combination with the needle and component parts of a stitch-forming mechanism, of means to impart'a lateral thread-pulling movement to the needle in the direction of the feed of the work while the needle is out of the work and retains the loop of thread, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JAMES W. MELOON.

WVitnesses:

T. HART ANDERSON, HORACE VAN EVEREN. 

